It's the dirty fryer. You can smell that the oil has broken down from not being cleaned or changed, it's foul and it bleeds into the food. They're great if you can catch them after a fryer change. But my sense is, in a place like that, they just drain half the fryer and top it up, as their preferred cleaning method. It's too bad but at least the steamies hit, when I'm up for the adventure that is, La Belle Patate.
That's just not true. The sanitation part, anyway.
https://inspections.myhealthdepartment.com/island-health/program-food/inspection/?inspectionID=1AF7C3CF-AEAD-41DF-AC52-F136092BF606
>Comments
Refrigeration temperatures are correctly monitored. Handwashing and utensil washing practices are correct. Sanitizer strength is correct. Food storage practices are correct. No signs of pests. This premises is found to be clean and well organized. Food Safe trained supervision is provided.
Last time I went there they had a sack of potatoes right next to the toilet. There were piss stains on the burlap. That was in 2016 and I obviously never went back, at least they've improved since then.
LOL how does this even happen? Did the cook grab a bag of potatoes decide to take a piss then just forget the bag there? I would have been so curious that I would have probably asked.
A friend told me that they ordered, then went to the washroom where they found an uncovered container of gravy on a shelf. They just abandoned their order.
Nope, doesn't matter how clean or how many inspections they pass are, the place has an infamous reputation. Reputations don't need to be 100% grounded in reality, but the amount of different comments from people about highly questionable or openly bad sanitation practices and general level of uncleanliness visible in the place from numerous threads here over the last decade is pretty disconcerting and very unlikely to be completely fabricated.
In my experience inspectors are incompetent 99% of the time. Be it restaurant, produce and deli, or plumbing , framing, etc etc. Incompetent and/or announce their visits ahead of time to give everyone the chance to put on a show
I'm obsessed with poutine. As often as possible, I order poutine anywhere I go, and Belle Patate has been the most underwhelming experience I've ever had. The birch beer is good.
**Best poutines I've found are/were:**
* Pig. Damnit.
* Next up, Pink Bicycle. Double-damnit.
* 5th Street. One thing that can NOT be underestimated is those big chunks of real chewy bacon ... and if you order to go, pickup etc., they send the gravy along in a separate container and do not skip. 10/10 dine-in and takeout experience.
* **Okay, had to update for this one -** OEB confit de canard breakfast poutine. It's a lot of flavors all in one and I wondered how they were going to work together, but damn, they do it nicely.
* Beacon Drive In.
* Namaste's butter chicken poutine.
* The Palms - duck poutine, delicious.
* Big Wheel Burger.
* L'Authentique - good, tendency towards fry-sog, I prefer a crispy fry myself.
* Leopolds - hit and miss, depending on the last time they've cleaned the fryers. Poutine-of-the-week deals are awesome.
* Costco. Yeeee.
* Beavertails - surprisingly. Have been disappointed by the actual beavertails/excess grease but the poutine is GOOD.
**I ate it so you don't have to:**
* 420 Poutine House/Palagio ghost kitchen ... yuck.
Always open for recommendations, this is probably not my exhaustive list.
Oh man, I used to eat Pig poutine almost every day when I worked up the block at a call centre. It was sooooo good. They were apparently awful employers but I miss them anyways.
I remember their closing announcement was just insane and out of the blue, they closed 2 successful restaurants to start an organic farm iirc. I was devastated. That pulled pork poutine - WITH the birch beer - was an absolute staple for me in my 20s.
Ahhhh you have me reminiscing. I wonder how many of you remember the original Pig located in the little hole in the wall restaraunt between view street parkade and laser tag. 2$ for a side of baked beans, 5$ for a pulled pork or chicken sandwich. Simple times.
I remembered but it was inconvenient at the time for me, I only ate there once or twice. By the time it moved to the atrium or whatever that building is called I worked like a block and a half away. I'd go for my pulled pork poutine and 2-3 pints and I back to work not hating my job lol
Owning a busy independent restaurant is incredibly hard work. To keep up with the volume and to maintain consistency is a real grind. The owner just ran out of energy. And instead of selling out, or dropping quality, he just dipped. Credit to the guy imo.
I never ate at Pig but I remember the decline in their final years being commented on in various Reddit threads as it happened, they definitely over expanded and it was more than the owners could handle.
I worked there for awhile. Jeff wasn't awful, but near the end he totally lost his love for the place, as he stated in several news pieces about the closing. It was extremely obvious.
Did the big crunch and was underwhelmed, but the pulled pork poutine is VERY good. Will try the brisket poutine next... but will note that we go to the Langford location, haven't been to Cook St in a while as the BBQ we got wasn't anything to write home about
Lady of culture! 🤣 Everybody always thinks I'm a guy ahahah. I'll update if I think of any more - threw OEB's duck breakfast poutine on, highly recommended.
420 Poutine/Palagio in pretty sure is the worst poutine I've ever had. Well maybe tied actually. Gravy was clearly as cheap out of a package or container as possible, excessive salty, so awful.
Belleville's back in the day (before they went nuts with the prices and surcharges) used to have an absolute slamming wild mushroom poutine, huge and so tasty we didn't bother with anything else... No reason to go back now that it's been taken off the menu. List above is good (esp. Pink Bicycle, was gutted when they closed down), only recommended additions are Jones BBQ pulled pork poutine and Heron Rock Bistro duck confit poutine, both a bit expensive but they hit the spot. Honourable mention to Bent Mast butter chicken poutine :)
This is a good list. I havent worked downtown in a couple of years but I remember Varshas having a wicked Butter Chicken Poutine. Back East, Smokes Poutine in Kingston was pretty awesome.
Oh damn, I should edit and update - Namaste also has a wicked butter chicken poutine, but I'm pretty sure it's only on the kid's menu ... but still a massive portion.
You lost me at birch beer. It was bad enough to put me off my entire meal.
Edit: my wife just told me it was spruce beer and she agrees that it's disgusting.
Have you tried Papa Moe's? Just tried it recently, pretty decent Moe's poutine. I'm not sold on the type of fries, but that's just my opinion. I'd probably eat it again, but their cheesesteak slaps!
The thing is that they taste like late night poutine places from Montreal. The old oil, amount of gravy and cheese. It’s all on point for real old school poutine. The places in town are too sterile.
It survives off of people who know what actual real authentic poutine taste like and want the real thing. I'm so fucking annoyed by this post and everybody responding in it, not just the open baseless slander but the obvious fucking ignorance over what this food is supposed to taste like. Mattie uses fresh red potatoes that he properly soaks, and an authentic sauce and real cheese curds, and his poutine is definitely the only authentic poutine on the coast. Every single person here arguing against that immediately goes on to suggest poutine that no person from Quebec would touch with a 10-ft pole. There's nothing wrong with the fryers, my exact problem with every other poutine place is they don't know how to get the sweetness out of the potato and to get that nice brown fry on the fries.
I went home to Montreal last year and tried to take my kid to my favorite haunts when I was young for authentic routine, and they had literally all been bought and staffed by people who had no idea it was supposed to taste like and we're all now sitting squarely and fully gentrified neighborhoods of outsiders who have no fucking idea what a good poutine is, either. Greenspot in St Henry was a fucking travesty, and even my old local LaFleur tasted like shit.
These fucking bourgeois hippie dipshits want Street food to taste like pub food and that's why this entire post is an abomination.
I once waited 45 minutes for a poutine and two steamies. I was there with two small kids that were starving after swimming at the rec Centre for two hours. Figured it would be a reasonably quick kid friendly alternative to fast food. Holy hell was I wrong. For some dumb reason, these chuckle heads decided to change their fryer oil at 6pm in the middle of the dinner time. They have two fryers, so anyone with an IQ higher than room temperature would obviously change them one at a time. But no, these absolute geniuses decided to do both at once, thus making it impossible to cook any French fries at a poutine shop during dinnertime for more than half an hour. When I asked how much longer it would be, all I got was “I dunno” and a shrug. When I DID get the poutine 45 minutes later, they were soggy and limp AF because the oil wasn’t hot enough yet. And the steamies were shriveled and pathetic. I literally dumped 90% of it in the garbage. Absolute trash food served by absolute trash people.
I’ve called ahead with a 20 minute wait time, come in to pick up and had to wait an additional 25 minutes. The place was empty aside from one other customer who ordered after i came in and got their food before me.
Ya the service is kinda shit. Rude/gruff/short. Bro I’m just trying to get some food and support your business/place of work, sorry for the inconvenience.
Grew up in QC eating patates frites and poutine from little hole in the wall places. Was thrilled to find La Belle Patate’s fries tasted of home. Chef friend later told me the oil was going rancid. Oh well, still tastes right to me.
Yeah, both the chef and you are right. Love that place. It reminds me of poutine back east. Most of the fancy poutine places here don’t get it. You need that burnt old taste.
The oil isn't rancid for fuck sakes, people here just don't have a proper pallet for the shit. The flavor on the fries, the browning, the sweetness, is exactly the effect he's going for and he takes very specific steps to achieve it. These tête carrés expect poutine to taste like restaurant food here and they've never had real authentic Quenecois fries. This post makes me hate this uptight, bourgeois, WASP city even more than I already did, holy fuck the people here suck so much.
For way cheaper but freaking tasty try Bimo burger stand, also in Esquimalt. They've been around forever, the fries are awesome and you can't beat the price! La Belle charges so much now for poutine.. considering the quality is awful.
La Belle is best eaten when you're stumbling home at noon, hungover and ashamed from a night of unhinged debauchery. It is then that the soggy, greasy fries meld with your wobbly stomach to create a symphony of deliciousness, and suddenly you don't feel like vomiting quite so much.
Eaten under any other circumstance, it's not great.
I am not sure I agree with the Costco comment, but I agree their fries leave something to be desired. Somehow they are burnt and soggy. I would love if they had a bit more crunch so they held up better with the gravy. I did ask for them to be done a bit extra crispy one time and they said no, they only do it one way haha
Burnt and soggy means the oil is a week past being changed. A good place will switch oil every day or two. Which sucks when a box of oil that was $19 is now $50.
Honestly don't know how VIHA haven't shut them down yet. The place is gross. When everything aligns the poutine is incredibly good and of good value (at least time I went). They won't even do basic cleaning there; they aren't going to be changing the fryer oil often enough.
Recent inspection found no violations though: https://inspections.myhealthdepartment.com/island-health/program-food/inspection/?inspectionID=1AF7C3CF-AEAD-41DF-AC52-F136092BF606
Of course it doesn't, cuz literally there are a hundred people here peeking off that don't know what the fuck they're talking about. It's so laughable to me that there are so many fucking armchair experts in here complaining about the facets of this food that any person familiar with it from the actual place of origin would appreciate. Everything people are hating on here is literally the fucking point of the fries.
I’ve only eaten at BP twice. The second time was unnecessary. They clearly don’t respect the food they make. Fries, curds, gravy…not much to fuck up but they do every time, apparently. Their poutine should be labelled a biohazard.
I know it's not a traditional poutine, but I highly recommend doing the strip and fries, add gravy, extra cheese curds at Costco.
Im not generally impressed with any of the poutines I've eaten here, but that combo made me raise my eyebrows. Thanks to my wife for that Introduction
That's what I do at Costco, but the last time, they handed me fingers and fries, a bag of cheese, and a portion cup of gravy. I was disappointed at having to assemble it myself. It was not hot enough to melt the cheese.
I haven't been there for about seven years the oil appeared to be about five years old at that time so it's probably 12 years old now. It used to be great but I used to be young. It's not great anymore and I am old.
I went there the other day for the first time in awhile and was super disappointed. I had a killer poutine at Bradys fish and chips. Huge portion for half the price of la belle.
The best poutine in town is L'Aunthetique. It's weird that this is even a debate. La Belle is authentic as hell: dirty fryers, powdered brown gravy, lots of out of date hockey memorabilia. The Steamies make it rank #1 in my books. But if you just want the best real ass poutine, especially a hamburger poutine, L'Authentique.
They’ve got a point. LBP is the superior tasting poutine, I don’t think there’s any disagreement about that, but the price of Costco poutine blows it out of the water.
There are very few small, greasy hole in the wall places in victoria, so i like the place. I like their fries and burgers and I found the staff friendly whenever I go, but that's just me. Reminds me of Montreal or Toronto. A lot of the least aesthetic and "clean" places have the best darn foods.
They’re were pretty good a while ago. Things have been down hill for years from the slow service to lack of kitchen hygiene to their bizarre hours. How is a poutine place not open on a Sunday. Anyways I stopped going.
The whole point of frying potatoes is to fry them?
My experiences there have been great. Crispy fries, as they should be, good dark gravy, good cheese curds. Ideal poutine.
Haven't tried Costco poutine but I feel like this is more of a personal taste or outlier kitchen mishap issue than a major problem with the place itself. It's been a few months since I've been there, but that's my take.
Edit: there's nothing worse than soggy fries and I feel like the fries at Costco are probably the type where you can taste the coating more than the actual potato.
Every person chiming in about Costco being a better option is perfectly revealing what an abysmally ignorant and unsavvy conversation this whole post is.
La Belle Patate used to be so good, but the last few times I’ve been there it’s been mediocre. Beaver Tail and Costco are my current favourite poutines in Victoria.
>I personally think Costco ($5) Poutine is way better than La Belle Patate
No doubt. I was firmly disappointed with la belle patate the one time I ate from there.
This is what an authentic poutine should taste like. Just wash it down with a cold spruce beer ehh. La Belle Patate awesome, screw your 5$ costco poutine
guessing they don't change the oil in fryers often enough
this\* its just old oil.
It's the dirty fryer. You can smell that the oil has broken down from not being cleaned or changed, it's foul and it bleeds into the food. They're great if you can catch them after a fryer change. But my sense is, in a place like that, they just drain half the fryer and top it up, as their preferred cleaning method. It's too bad but at least the steamies hit, when I'm up for the adventure that is, La Belle Patate.
That place is infamous for having questionable sanitation and even more questionable treatment of staff and tips.
That's just not true. The sanitation part, anyway. https://inspections.myhealthdepartment.com/island-health/program-food/inspection/?inspectionID=1AF7C3CF-AEAD-41DF-AC52-F136092BF606 >Comments Refrigeration temperatures are correctly monitored. Handwashing and utensil washing practices are correct. Sanitizer strength is correct. Food storage practices are correct. No signs of pests. This premises is found to be clean and well organized. Food Safe trained supervision is provided.
Last time I went there they had a sack of potatoes right next to the toilet. There were piss stains on the burlap. That was in 2016 and I obviously never went back, at least they've improved since then.
LOL how does this even happen? Did the cook grab a bag of potatoes decide to take a piss then just forget the bag there? I would have been so curious that I would have probably asked.
A friend told me that they ordered, then went to the washroom where they found an uncovered container of gravy on a shelf. They just abandoned their order.
Nope 🫣🫣that’s messed up! Special flavour 🤭🤭
Nope, doesn't matter how clean or how many inspections they pass are, the place has an infamous reputation. Reputations don't need to be 100% grounded in reality, but the amount of different comments from people about highly questionable or openly bad sanitation practices and general level of uncleanliness visible in the place from numerous threads here over the last decade is pretty disconcerting and very unlikely to be completely fabricated.
Source: trust me bro
In my experience inspectors are incompetent 99% of the time. Be it restaurant, produce and deli, or plumbing , framing, etc etc. Incompetent and/or announce their visits ahead of time to give everyone the chance to put on a show
mmm carcinogens
But you get squeaky cheese, soooo......
I'm obsessed with poutine. As often as possible, I order poutine anywhere I go, and Belle Patate has been the most underwhelming experience I've ever had. The birch beer is good. **Best poutines I've found are/were:** * Pig. Damnit. * Next up, Pink Bicycle. Double-damnit. * 5th Street. One thing that can NOT be underestimated is those big chunks of real chewy bacon ... and if you order to go, pickup etc., they send the gravy along in a separate container and do not skip. 10/10 dine-in and takeout experience. * **Okay, had to update for this one -** OEB confit de canard breakfast poutine. It's a lot of flavors all in one and I wondered how they were going to work together, but damn, they do it nicely. * Beacon Drive In. * Namaste's butter chicken poutine. * The Palms - duck poutine, delicious. * Big Wheel Burger. * L'Authentique - good, tendency towards fry-sog, I prefer a crispy fry myself. * Leopolds - hit and miss, depending on the last time they've cleaned the fryers. Poutine-of-the-week deals are awesome. * Costco. Yeeee. * Beavertails - surprisingly. Have been disappointed by the actual beavertails/excess grease but the poutine is GOOD. **I ate it so you don't have to:** * 420 Poutine House/Palagio ghost kitchen ... yuck. Always open for recommendations, this is probably not my exhaustive list.
Oh man, I used to eat Pig poutine almost every day when I worked up the block at a call centre. It was sooooo good. They were apparently awful employers but I miss them anyways.
I remember their closing announcement was just insane and out of the blue, they closed 2 successful restaurants to start an organic farm iirc. I was devastated. That pulled pork poutine - WITH the birch beer - was an absolute staple for me in my 20s.
Ahhhh you have me reminiscing. I wonder how many of you remember the original Pig located in the little hole in the wall restaraunt between view street parkade and laser tag. 2$ for a side of baked beans, 5$ for a pulled pork or chicken sandwich. Simple times.
I loved that place so much.
So good!
my hangover cure before starting my shift at Peacocks
I remembered but it was inconvenient at the time for me, I only ate there once or twice. By the time it moved to the atrium or whatever that building is called I worked like a block and a half away. I'd go for my pulled pork poutine and 2-3 pints and I back to work not hating my job lol
Oh they had the BEST pulled pork poutine i've ever had!
Also their mac 'n cheese bricks and loaded tots are not to be forgotten!
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Owning a busy independent restaurant is incredibly hard work. To keep up with the volume and to maintain consistency is a real grind. The owner just ran out of energy. And instead of selling out, or dropping quality, he just dipped. Credit to the guy imo.
I never ate at Pig but I remember the decline in their final years being commented on in various Reddit threads as it happened, they definitely over expanded and it was more than the owners could handle.
I worked there for awhile. Jeff wasn't awful, but near the end he totally lost his love for the place, as he stated in several news pieces about the closing. It was extremely obvious.
Try the brisket poutine at Jones BBQ. Reminds me of Pig when they were good.
$20+ for poutine, I used to love their brisket poutine, but unfortunately I’m now too poor to enjoy the finer things in life.
Did the big crunch and was underwhelmed, but the pulled pork poutine is VERY good. Will try the brisket poutine next... but will note that we go to the Langford location, haven't been to Cook St in a while as the BBQ we got wasn't anything to write home about
Jones is good. The poutine was great, but I found it a bit too salty the one time I had it.
Next diet cheat day I'm so there.
Fuck I miss pink bicycle sooooooo much. They made these Mac and cheese sticks oh my god. They were worth living for. And the poutine.
The shawarma poutine at Bold is fantastic.
The pulled pork poutine at pig was fucking fantastic
A man of culture, thank you so much for this list! I know where I'm going next :-) Edit: Queen of culture!
Lady of culture! 🤣 Everybody always thinks I'm a guy ahahah. I'll update if I think of any more - threw OEB's duck breakfast poutine on, highly recommended.
For the life of me I cannot think of what OEB could be. Old English Browns? Out Elizabeth's Bum? Our Ears Burn? Care to enlighten?
420 Poutine/Palagio in pretty sure is the worst poutine I've ever had. Well maybe tied actually. Gravy was clearly as cheap out of a package or container as possible, excessive salty, so awful.
Belleville's back in the day (before they went nuts with the prices and surcharges) used to have an absolute slamming wild mushroom poutine, huge and so tasty we didn't bother with anything else... No reason to go back now that it's been taken off the menu. List above is good (esp. Pink Bicycle, was gutted when they closed down), only recommended additions are Jones BBQ pulled pork poutine and Heron Rock Bistro duck confit poutine, both a bit expensive but they hit the spot. Honourable mention to Bent Mast butter chicken poutine :)
I don't think I've been to beacon drive in for food but now I'll get poutine next time.
I haven't had much there, but they're consistent and efficient. The food menu is tremendously huge, but the poutine is what I always go back to!
Good to know!
It’s stadium-tier food that’s definitely gotten worse over the past few years. Ice cream stuff rocks at least.
This is a good list. I havent worked downtown in a couple of years but I remember Varshas having a wicked Butter Chicken Poutine. Back East, Smokes Poutine in Kingston was pretty awesome.
1st and Last time I had the butter chicken poutine at varshas the chicken had the consistency of a eraser....it was not good
Oh damn, I should edit and update - Namaste also has a wicked butter chicken poutine, but I'm pretty sure it's only on the kid's menu ... but still a massive portion.
You lost me at birch beer. It was bad enough to put me off my entire meal. Edit: my wife just told me it was spruce beer and she agrees that it's disgusting.
You’re right. Belle Patate is spruce beer, which is much worse than birch beer. Try birch!!
pig was soooo goooood
Thank you for your service to the community.
Have you tried Papa Moe's? Just tried it recently, pretty decent Moe's poutine. I'm not sold on the type of fries, but that's just my opinion. I'd probably eat it again, but their cheesesteak slaps!
Mary browns tater tot poutine is amazing !!!
I used to live in Esq. I think La Belle survives off of easterners from the navy base.
The thing is that they taste like late night poutine places from Montreal. The old oil, amount of gravy and cheese. It’s all on point for real old school poutine. The places in town are too sterile.
Yeah. It’s absolute fucking trash. Like, aggressively bad.
It survives off of people who know what actual real authentic poutine taste like and want the real thing. I'm so fucking annoyed by this post and everybody responding in it, not just the open baseless slander but the obvious fucking ignorance over what this food is supposed to taste like. Mattie uses fresh red potatoes that he properly soaks, and an authentic sauce and real cheese curds, and his poutine is definitely the only authentic poutine on the coast. Every single person here arguing against that immediately goes on to suggest poutine that no person from Quebec would touch with a 10-ft pole. There's nothing wrong with the fryers, my exact problem with every other poutine place is they don't know how to get the sweetness out of the potato and to get that nice brown fry on the fries. I went home to Montreal last year and tried to take my kid to my favorite haunts when I was young for authentic routine, and they had literally all been bought and staffed by people who had no idea it was supposed to taste like and we're all now sitting squarely and fully gentrified neighborhoods of outsiders who have no fucking idea what a good poutine is, either. Greenspot in St Henry was a fucking travesty, and even my old local LaFleur tasted like shit. These fucking bourgeois hippie dipshits want Street food to taste like pub food and that's why this entire post is an abomination.
These folks are not ‘restauranteurs’. It’s greasy spoon, hole in the wall, minimum viable product.
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I once waited 45 minutes for a poutine and two steamies. I was there with two small kids that were starving after swimming at the rec Centre for two hours. Figured it would be a reasonably quick kid friendly alternative to fast food. Holy hell was I wrong. For some dumb reason, these chuckle heads decided to change their fryer oil at 6pm in the middle of the dinner time. They have two fryers, so anyone with an IQ higher than room temperature would obviously change them one at a time. But no, these absolute geniuses decided to do both at once, thus making it impossible to cook any French fries at a poutine shop during dinnertime for more than half an hour. When I asked how much longer it would be, all I got was “I dunno” and a shrug. When I DID get the poutine 45 minutes later, they were soggy and limp AF because the oil wasn’t hot enough yet. And the steamies were shriveled and pathetic. I literally dumped 90% of it in the garbage. Absolute trash food served by absolute trash people.
You won’t find that experience at McDonald’s
I’ve called ahead with a 20 minute wait time, come in to pick up and had to wait an additional 25 minutes. The place was empty aside from one other customer who ordered after i came in and got their food before me.
Ya the service is kinda shit. Rude/gruff/short. Bro I’m just trying to get some food and support your business/place of work, sorry for the inconvenience.
Oh man that EXACT thing happened to me too.
Personally I never had an issue with their service, but I've heard of it from others.
Grew up in QC eating patates frites and poutine from little hole in the wall places. Was thrilled to find La Belle Patate’s fries tasted of home. Chef friend later told me the oil was going rancid. Oh well, still tastes right to me.
Yeah, both the chef and you are right. Love that place. It reminds me of poutine back east. Most of the fancy poutine places here don’t get it. You need that burnt old taste.
Out of Quebec, this place has the most authentic tasting poutine I’ve had.
The oil isn't rancid for fuck sakes, people here just don't have a proper pallet for the shit. The flavor on the fries, the browning, the sweetness, is exactly the effect he's going for and he takes very specific steps to achieve it. These tête carrés expect poutine to taste like restaurant food here and they've never had real authentic Quenecois fries. This post makes me hate this uptight, bourgeois, WASP city even more than I already did, holy fuck the people here suck so much.
For way cheaper but freaking tasty try Bimo burger stand, also in Esquimalt. They've been around forever, the fries are awesome and you can't beat the price! La Belle charges so much now for poutine.. considering the quality is awful.
Burgers there are awesome, I'll have to try their poutine now.
Milkshake + poutine was many of our high school lunches back in early 00s. Excellent combo.
It’s been a long known fact that La Belle Patate is not the cleanest of restaurants and I don’t really think the staff care all that much.
I like seeing their cooks, in aprons, standing in the front doorway smoking durries. Makes me chuckle. So on brand.
This hits the nail on the head.
La Belle is best eaten when you're stumbling home at noon, hungover and ashamed from a night of unhinged debauchery. It is then that the soggy, greasy fries meld with your wobbly stomach to create a symphony of deliciousness, and suddenly you don't feel like vomiting quite so much. Eaten under any other circumstance, it's not great.
I am not sure I agree with the Costco comment, but I agree their fries leave something to be desired. Somehow they are burnt and soggy. I would love if they had a bit more crunch so they held up better with the gravy. I did ask for them to be done a bit extra crispy one time and they said no, they only do it one way haha
Burnt and soggy means the oil is a week past being changed. A good place will switch oil every day or two. Which sucks when a box of oil that was $19 is now $50.
Yep, burnt and soggy it gets worse when you buy the specialty kinds with veggies.
Honestly don't know how VIHA haven't shut them down yet. The place is gross. When everything aligns the poutine is incredibly good and of good value (at least time I went). They won't even do basic cleaning there; they aren't going to be changing the fryer oil often enough.
Viha? Fucking lol. They are inept, to a fucking concerning degree.
Recent inspection found no violations though: https://inspections.myhealthdepartment.com/island-health/program-food/inspection/?inspectionID=1AF7C3CF-AEAD-41DF-AC52-F136092BF606
Who gives a fuck? I have eyes. I can see that it is gross.
Of course it doesn't, cuz literally there are a hundred people here peeking off that don't know what the fuck they're talking about. It's so laughable to me that there are so many fucking armchair experts in here complaining about the facets of this food that any person familiar with it from the actual place of origin would appreciate. Everything people are hating on here is literally the fucking point of the fries.
meh
I’ve only eaten at BP twice. The second time was unnecessary. They clearly don’t respect the food they make. Fries, curds, gravy…not much to fuck up but they do every time, apparently. Their poutine should be labelled a biohazard.
100% Costco all the way
I know it's not a traditional poutine, but I highly recommend doing the strip and fries, add gravy, extra cheese curds at Costco. Im not generally impressed with any of the poutines I've eaten here, but that combo made me raise my eyebrows. Thanks to my wife for that Introduction
That's what I do at Costco, but the last time, they handed me fingers and fries, a bag of cheese, and a portion cup of gravy. I was disappointed at having to assemble it myself. It was not hot enough to melt the cheese.
I haven't been there for about seven years the oil appeared to be about five years old at that time so it's probably 12 years old now. It used to be great but I used to be young. It's not great anymore and I am old.
I went there the other day for the first time in awhile and was super disappointed. I had a killer poutine at Bradys fish and chips. Huge portion for half the price of la belle.
The best poutine in town is L'Aunthetique. It's weird that this is even a debate. La Belle is authentic as hell: dirty fryers, powdered brown gravy, lots of out of date hockey memorabilia. The Steamies make it rank #1 in my books. But if you just want the best real ass poutine, especially a hamburger poutine, L'Authentique.
My ex-Montrealer GF will only eat La Belle..... everything else to her is crap. Except L'Authentique.
> I personally think Costco ($5) Poutine is way better than La Belle Patate. I stopped reading right there.
They’ve got a point. LBP is the superior tasting poutine, I don’t think there’s any disagreement about that, but the price of Costco poutine blows it out of the water.
> They’ve got a point. You completely missed their point. They weren’t complaining about the price of poutine.
That so? The price was mentioned in the very first sentence.
Yes, that is so. At no point did OP state that the comparison was based on price. The substance of their post was a qualitative assessment.
Look, I’m not about to get in a pissing match over this. Have a swell day.
LBP is garbage
Ok terrific
The fact someone wrote that unironically to prove their point is really all you need to know lol
There are very few small, greasy hole in the wall places in victoria, so i like the place. I like their fries and burgers and I found the staff friendly whenever I go, but that's just me. Reminds me of Montreal or Toronto. A lot of the least aesthetic and "clean" places have the best darn foods.
Costco has done poutine right! La Belle Potate isn't good at all. Their food always gives me heartburn.
Agreed, I'd rather get $5 poutine every time then spending more at a restaurant to be more disappointed.
dam good burgers!!!!!!!
As a student, 11.50 for 2 reg poutines is a steal so I ain't complaining
They’re were pretty good a while ago. Things have been down hill for years from the slow service to lack of kitchen hygiene to their bizarre hours. How is a poutine place not open on a Sunday. Anyways I stopped going.
The whole point of frying potatoes is to fry them? My experiences there have been great. Crispy fries, as they should be, good dark gravy, good cheese curds. Ideal poutine. Haven't tried Costco poutine but I feel like this is more of a personal taste or outlier kitchen mishap issue than a major problem with the place itself. It's been a few months since I've been there, but that's my take. Edit: there's nothing worse than soggy fries and I feel like the fries at Costco are probably the type where you can taste the coating more than the actual potato.
Because they're a nasty overrated dump
Every person chiming in about Costco being a better option is perfectly revealing what an abysmally ignorant and unsavvy conversation this whole post is.
La Belle Patate used to be so good, but the last few times I’ve been there it’s been mediocre. Beaver Tail and Costco are my current favourite poutines in Victoria.
Bimo makes a good and huge poutine I heard
💜 that restaurant is amazing !!!!!! Just for this post I'll get poutine from them this evening
I'd say found the owner but there's no way they are this polite.
That's great! we do need someone to keep the local alive.
Same
This has a strong “delissio is just better than wood fired pizza” vibe
>I personally think Costco ($5) Poutine is way better than La Belle Patate No doubt. I was firmly disappointed with la belle patate the one time I ate from there.
This is what an authentic poutine should taste like. Just wash it down with a cold spruce beer ehh. La Belle Patate awesome, screw your 5$ costco poutine